PH COVID-19 Treatment Centre is Okay – Discharged Patient
By Sandra Ngo
The COVID-19 pandemic has made the entire world to undergo numerous forms of hardship. At various points there have been different interpretations and misinterpretations of what the virus truly is, how it spreads, etc.
One of such misinterpretations and misinformation is on what the acclaimed Isolation/Treatment centres are and how effectively they function.
Towards throwing more light on this aspect, the Rivers State Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) Media Team located a patient discharged two weeks ago from the COVID-19 Treatment Centre in Port Harcourt.
For the sake of avoiding various forms of stigmatization against the man, he is identified as Mr Sanipe.
According to 42 years old Sanipe, before he voluntarily went to the Port Harcourt Isolation/Treatment Centre, he had heard a lot of information about what goes on at the Centre in the Yakubu Gowon Stadium.
Fourteen days at the Centre, according to Sanipe,”has not only made me to understand what government and other interventionist organisations are really putting into this COVID-19 prevention in order to keep us safe, but has also put me in good stead to talk about my experience.
Sanipe, who is a health care provider, explained that from the point at which he noticed some changes in his system, through when he went to the treatment centre, to when he was discharged, professionalism and adherence to the COVID-19 prevention protocols was the watch-word in the centre.
“As a health worker, I noticed some changes in my system, but the symptoms were not pronounced. So I went to get tested. After 7 days, the result came out and I was positive”, he said.
He also went further to explain his experiences from the point of arrival at the treatment centre to commencement of treatment on him.
“From the point of my arrival at the treatment centre, every thing in the place was done professionally. Begining from the point of entry, they observed every protocol needed to be observed.
“Throughout my stay there, I was given drugs, but I will not disclose whether it was anti-malaria or not. But all the drugs I was given were okay.
“They fed us well, three times a day with standard food, and also checked on us regularly”,he said.
Sanipe stated further that the only challenge he noticed at the Centre are mostly characteristic of such public facilities set up in a hurry to meet specific demands, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Sometimes the place may not be as clean as it should be under normal circumstance because people come in and out always. Besides, we are from different backgrounds.
“Also, the wooden floor had started caving in at the area I stayed at the time. But beyond this, everything was okay”, he stated.
After he was discharged, Sanipe was told to stay at home for some days to observe himself before mixing with the public. Two weeks after his discharge, he said, he could still feel serious headache and cold, but hopes that this would cease to enable him start his normal life activities.
